Browsing Posts tagged Ali Shahriari

The Sterling Voter’s Guide is provided as an information resource for any readers interested in my research and opinions. Because of time constraints this year, it only addresses the 2011 election campaign for Sterling District Supervisor, but in future elections I may make it more comprehensive. [NOTE: The "theme" phrases next to each of the candidates' names in the titles were made up by me to match the content of what I wrote, and have nothing to do with what the respective candidates say about themselves.]

If you find the Sterling Voter’s Guide helpful, tell your friends and neighbors in Sterling to visit SterlingVoter.com – it will bring them right here. It’s easy to remember and it might help them each make up their mind and remember to vote on November 8!

Quick Links For More Information About Eugene Delgaudio:

OTHER: Mr. Delgaudio recently gave an extensive interview which you can read by clicking here. Because he did not soft-pedal his answers, the interview stands as a revealing look at the “real” Eugene Delgaudio. Supporters likely will be confirmed in their support; previous non-supporters may or may not change their minds; and those unfamiliar with the Sterling supervisor will be able to decide for themselves what they think of him.

Eugene Delgaudio: Education and Local Ties

Mr. Delgaudio received his bachelor’s degree in political science from York College of CUNY, Queens, New York.

Mr. Delgaudio first became active in the Sterling community in 1998 when he came to fight the proposed “meals tax.” He was elected to the Sterling District seat on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors in 1999, and was reelected in 2003 and 2007.

A Closer Look At Eugene Delgaudio (Republican):

Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio has a knack for evoking strong emotions. On the one hand, he has a large group of dedicated volunteers who turn out for him on a variety of community projects throughout the year, and also during political campaigns – both his own, every four years, and those of candidates he supports during local off years.

On the other hand, he drives his detractors nuts – especially the tiny faction of extremely vocal liberal activists who follow his every move and dissect each of his public statements. Their attention to him borders on obsession and he seems to relish unapologetically stating viewpoints that some consider politically incorrect.

What nobody denies is that he is the hardest-working supervisor in the county, with a constant presence in the community, regular communications through his (at minimum) weekly “Dear Sterling American” emails, and persistent involvement in a myriad of local activities. He has raised tens of thousands of dollars from private sources for non-profit organizations and capital improvement projects. He has sent a personal letter to every honor roll recipient at Park View High School for the past 12 years. He sends out news of food banks, pothole repairs, teen job fairs, and much more, as well as warnings about accidents, traffic jams, and criminal activity, and during storms he directs snow plows to the hardest-hit areas.

For a complete definition of the county supervisor position, according to Eugene Delgaudio, click here.

Delgaudio addressing the crowd several years later, at the 2010 substation grand opening

Because he is a fiscal conservative and budget hawk on most matters under board purview, he has become the target of criticism that is frequently nothing more than blatant hyperbole. When he pushed to charge fees for use of the Claude Moore Community Center, he was accused of wanting to close the center. When he advocated charging late fees for overdue books at the library, he was accused of wanting to close the libraries. By taking the leading public role on budget matters that are easily demagogued, he makes himself a target. (Click here for background on both issues.)

As Mr. Delgaudio states: “To force others to pay for one’s recreation is tyrannical and wrong. And so I created a new wave of accountability, as just one supervisor.”

His view on social issues is unsettlingly conservative and his antics distracting, but a deeper look demonstrates a public official who works tirelessly for the people of Sterling. We would be lying if we didn’t admit that a moderation of the antics in “The Eugene Show” would be welcome. However, no one works harder for their district than Delgaudio, whose strong constituent service and unabashed push for additional resources have improved life in the Sterling District.

Final Notes On Eugene Delgaudio:

Not everyone gets Eugene Delgaudio’s sense of humor – but that is likely because they have not yet gotten to know him. As his Leadership Institute bio says, “Eugene Delgaudio is one of the most interesting, creative, and genuinely funny elected officials in America.”

In September 2010, Delgaudio and community members welcomed soon-to-be House Speaker John Boehner to Tart Lumber in Sterling

Most of the resident here do get it, as he is a uniquely effective retail politician. Door-to-door and at community events, he does reflect his stated belief that “Sterling is a microcosm of the world … I come from a background in New York where people were from every country and united in one purpose.”

On November 8, however, Sterling voters are tasked with neither a canonization nor a coronation, but a choice. The county is facing a $75 million deficit in the upcoming fiscal year and no reason to believe it won’t be worse the following year. Dire financial circumstances require leaders willing to take a hard line on spending.

If you find the Sterling Voter’s Guide helpful, tell your friends and neighbors in Sterling to visit SterlingVoter.com – it will bring them right here. It’s easy to remember and it might help them each make up their mind and remember to vote on November 8!

Quick Links For More Information About Ali Shahriari:

Ali Shahriari: Education and Local Ties

Mr. Shahriari received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Strayer University and is currently completing his masters degree in environmental management from University of Maryland University College, with expected graduation in 2012.

Mr. Shahriari was born in Leesburg and has lived in Sterling his entire life.

A Closer Look At Ali Shahriari (Independent):

Ali Shahriari promises to be a different kind of Loudoun County supervisor. He believes that government has become too removed from the people, and he proposes to rectify that by opening new channels of input through an informal (at first) structure of “People’s Conferences.”

When members of the community are limited in their civic participation to checking a box on a ballot once every few years, or being permitted to make limited comments to the Board, there arises a distance between the small groups residing in each community, and the dominant groups that control political power. By creating “Precinct People’s Conferences” equidistant from the Central People’s Conference, everyone living in Sterling will have equal and continuous access to the members of the Central People’s Conference and thereby to the Central Conference Secretary – a position that will become a dual-role of the Sterling District supervisor.

Political parties represent interests, interests dictate what political party members decide and this naturally leaves opposing parties and interests without their voices being heard. As “The People’s Candidate,” I want to work alongside ALL Sterling residents to implement the people’s wishes. Precinct People’s Conferences in Sterling will bring all residents of Sterling to the decision making process regardless of their political philosophy.

Mr. Shahriari supports the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms; and he believes we need to “destroy gangs in Loudoun,” create a small-business friendly environment, and keep expenditures within the county’s means.

On the other hand, he favors: “land use and taxing reforms that discourage private monopoly ownership of land”; county-owned pharmacies; and exploring the possibility of a county-wide minimum wage.

Other specific areas where he supports increased spending are: social services assistance to the elderly and needy; more youth services and programs; “ordinances that protect the environment” – which could create new expenses for the county; and cooperative medical and dental health programs. He proposes paying for these new expenses with new sales and alcohol taxes as well as increased business and professional licensing fees.

Clearly, some of Mr. Shahriari’s views are quite revolutionary and very much to the left of America’s political mainstream. But with his conservative positions on gun rights, crime, and fiduciary responsibility he defies easy ideological classification. He might be considered a “liberal,” but from from days past – more of a Reagan Democrat or, considering his ideas on property rights, a Khrushchev Democrat. Yet however we parse it, Ali Shahriari is definitely a throwback to an earlier era and not your conventional modern liberal.

Shahriari with ADAMS Center members

Although he has obviously given a great deal of thought to his positions, most notably regarding the new People’s Conferences, there is one proposal that does not seem to bear the stamp of his training as an economist. On the topic of job growth, he states: “A Loudoun County minimum wage would encourage job growth and sustainable employment.”

On the face of it, this statement would appear to be misconceived. Many economists might argue that – could it be legally implemented – a new, higher minimum wage would have the effect of stifling job creation because of increased costs to employers. This is a proposal needing further consideration and, if pursued beyond the campaign period, debate. Combined with increased taxes on companies, this idea could be a job killer and make it even more difficult to create a more business=-friendly environment than that in Fairfax County.

In all of his public statements, Mr. Shahriari stresses his Loudoun roots and the strong familiarity that comes with growing up here: “I have worked in Sterling. I have worked at the airport … I know the people of the community … Sterling is beautiful.”

Apart from the distinction of running as an Independent (Mr. Delgaudio is the Republican Party nominee and Mr. Nevarez the Democratic Party nominee), Mr. Shahriari occupies a unique position in another way: He is a Muslim and active member of the ADAMS Center. Regardless of the normal political breakdown of the ADAMS Center membership, Ali Shahriari certainly enjoys a degree of exclusive access to the community there.

Shahriari With Imam Mohammad Magid of the ADAMS Center

Unconventionally leftist; Independent; ADAMS Center member: All of these set Mr. Shahriari apart. But the most radical aspect of his candidacy is that he is running a campaign that accepts no campaign contributions. He has pledged “not to receive a single penny of contributions for my campaign and to not spend more then $1,000 dollars of my own funds.”

As surely as the sun will rise in the east tomorrow, if Mr. Shahriari wins or even makes a respectable showing when the votes are counted Tuesday evening, alarm bells will be going off in Leesburg, Richmond and throughout the state. Ali Shahriari has conducted the ultimate low-budget, grassroots campaign, relying exclusively on the Internet, local press, community ties and his own ability to walk the district to get his message out.

On his Twitter feed, he claims 2,120 Sterling residents have assured him their vote, and that a “recent poll” shows him with 68% support so far. Now, his periodic tweets report that he has been burning up the shoe leather around the district – but those numbers seem to defy rational expectations, apart from the question of how exactly he got that poll done.

One thing is for certain: If Mr. Shahriari’s predicted figures are anywhere near accurate, he could have a major impact on Tuesday’s results – and not simply by upsetting the calculations of the major parties.

Final Notes On Ali Shahriari:

When a candidate for the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors states that “Sterling is in dire need of political and socioeconomic reform among the diverse population in the area,” the candidate seems to have a mistaken conception of the Board’s proper sphere of influence. But Mr. Shahriari does make clear that he would aim at implementing his reforms on a piecemeal basis.

Similarly, his intentions to seek increased fees on businesses or a “county minimum wage” seem to betray a lack of sophistication in understanding the local economy – yet drawn as they are from essentially position statements rather than in-depth questioning, the seriousness of his proposals is hard to judge fully.

His emphasis on the importance of looking far into the future is admirable, and one gets the impression that, even if he does not win on November 8, he will be back to serve in some public capacity. One hopes some of his more leftist viewpoints would evolve over time, and that we will hear more from him on a variety of issues. In particular, it would be interesting to hear Mr. Shahriari’s views – as an economist – on the county budget shortfall, because that issue is not addressed in any of his campaign materials.

Some of Mr. Shahriari’s key concepts appear to be drawn from the “The Green Book,” which spells out the political philosophy of the former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi. It is arguable whether such ideas were ever implemented in Libya under the Gaddafi regime, but history tell us that such a leftist concept of government has always failed in practice.

Again, Mr. Shahriari in some senses is a centrist in terms of public policy, but to the extent he veers to the left, he veers very far.

If you find the Sterling Voter’s Guide helpful, tell your friends and neighbors in Sterling to visit SterlingVoter.com – it will bring them right here. It’s easy to remember and it might help them each make up their mind and remember to vote on November 8!

Quick Links For More Information About Al Nevarez:

OTHER: Much of what can be learned about Mr. Nevarez is in the thousands of comments and blog posts he has produced around the Web. Wolverine has helpfully distilled much of that scattered information into the “Life and Times” series of columns, the beginning of which you can find by clicking here. (Click here for installments 2-8 – you will have to scroll down a ways to get to them).

A five-year employee of the AFL-CIO, one of the key supporting organizations of “Occupy Wall Street,” Mr. Nevarez has received a huge portion of his campaign funding from the unions, including $4000 from SEIU and $1500 from Food and Allied Service Trades department of AFL-CIO during the past two weeks.

Nevarez with former Governor Tim Kaine at the opening of Nevarez’ Sterling campaign office

From his statement above that “Most workers are reliant upon federal government spending for their middle class existence,” we can see that Mr. Nevarez has a simplistic understanding of how the economy works. In this worldview, your tax payments (assuming you are a taxpayer) are what allow most Americans to live normal lives. Regardless of the factors that determine your economic well-being, in order for the “middle class” to have better lives or make it through financial downturns, you and others like you need to pay more taxes.

It’s a wildly inaccurate understanding of how the world works, but it is not at all uncommon among pro-union activists as we explain here.

Taken together – along with his limited formal education and sweeping conception of his “enemies” as denoted in the first quote above – these beliefs place Mr. Nevarez squarely within the “mob” mainstream.

Final Notes On Al Nevarez:

For Sterling voters who believe in the “Occupy” movement and in what the public employee unions are seeking with their activist efforts, Al Nevarez is one of your own and it would be understandable if he is your choice on November 8.

What does this signify for what Al Nevarez would bring to the job of Loudoun County supervisor?

From all accounts, in person Al Nevarez is a friendly individual, and we must assume that in seeking the Sterling supervisor position he means well. And make no mistake: All those people creating bedlam and bankruptcy in Wisconsin and on Wall Street and around the country are not devils with horns. Unfortunately, uninformed people with misguided goals can inadvertently cause a devolution into chaos despite good intentions.

We can conclude, therefore, that Al Nevarez might do well to spend more time learning about how the economy works, how the middle class actually is financed, and perhaps even how to balance a checkbook, before taking on the complex responsibilities of a member of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.

If you find the Sterling Voter’s Guide helpful, tell your friends and neighbors in Sterling to visit SterlingVoter.com – it will bring them right here. It’s easy to remember and it might help them each make up their mind and remember to vote on November 8!

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The Sterling Voter’s Guide at SterlingVoter.com is provided and authorized by Joseph W. Budzinski of Sterling, Virginia. Not authorized by or coordinated with any candidate, political campaign or political committee.

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